Brooke Hummel Confronts Bullying With Song “Cruel” [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

I would say Carrie Underwood. Carrie Underwood, you know, ever since I was little I saw her on the Country Music Awards and she is just so awesome. ‘Cause she is a powerhouse artist, she has crazy vocals, and she’s such a good person, like I watch all of her interviews. Her and her husband and her kid, like they are so cute together and they always have good morals and stuff.

I mean it was kind of bittersweet, because I knew I was in that overcoming stage. So, I wasn’t a total mess writing it. I was at a good point to where I was comfortable enough just putting it all out on the table. Me and my manager/producer—his name is DeAndre—you know, he knew everything, and I kept telling him everything and He was like, “Okay let’s do it. Let’s just write it down and see what happens.” And then that’s how it came about.

So, you know I was new to a small town, and I think just because I was doing different things and I wasn’t like the rest of them, I think I was just an easy target. Because everybody was just doing the same thing, everybody was following the same crowd, and here Brooke Hummel comes, new to the school, and I’m just not the same. So, I was just a very easy target, which is kind of sad because I mean that happens to so many kids for so many different reasons, and unnecessary reasons at that.

So, it’s called “STOP BLOCK TELL,” and the internet handle is http://stopblocktell.org. So basically, when we started it I was going through bullying and I was dealing with all those experiences that made me feel really down about myself. You know when you feel down about yourself it kind of comes to a point where you’re tired of feeling sad and you want to do something about it. So I sat down with my team and I was like, “Guys, I don’t want to have to go through this anymore,” and I’m sure there are other kids that are going through it—The bullying, and everything like that—I’m sure there’s some worst-case scenarios that are even [more] horrible than mine. So, when I was creating this, I really wanted to figure out a way to share my story and be helping others, because I knew there were others who were going through it. So, right now we are just starting up our tour and going to as many schools as possible, because I think when we go to the schools, it’s really that target demographic of the kids that we want to reach. So all the schools that we can. We love, love for invitations to schools, because of all the different kids and stuff like that who aren’t familiar with it yet, every single one of them, has said that it has impacted them.

I actually kind of suffered, you know, I didn’t really speak out. So, coming from that personal experience, I think it’s easier for me to help other kids, because I know that some of them are suffering in silence and that’s the main thing: Stop Block and Tell, each “Stop,” “Block,” and “Tell” has a meaning—that’s why we called it that— and the most important one is “Tell.” I didn’t do that at first, and that’s the main thing that we tell everybody when they ask for advice. You know you have to tell somebody or else it’s not going to stop. And then you hear in the song “Cruel,” too of me talking about my experience and stuff. And then, the overcoming part in the end just kind of ties it all together.

My favorite part you know, was going through all the experiences and then coming down and writing stuff about it. You know, just the whole process; the recording studio is like a home to me, I just feel so comfortable there. So, recording and then writing.